On Thin Ice
by WedJes.Writes
Summary: Ben Solo is a professional ice hockey player, while Armitage Hux is a professional figure skater. Despite their difference, Ben can't help but be mesmerised by the other man, but his own personal issues continue to get in the way, as they have his entire life. A surprise reconciliation might make him see clearly though.
1. Chapter 1

Ben wasn't _trying_ to make his complete lack of punctuality a habit, even if its persistency made it seem that way,

He'd been late for every team practise for the last three weeks, and his coach was really starting to take notice of it.

None of this stopped him from being late once again on this particular morning however.

Despite his deft ability on the ice, Ben nearly went flying across the highly polished floor of the rink lobby as he entered it, barrelling past several regular customers and a receptionist who briefly didn't recognise him, and tried to ask him for ID, or to pay.

He managed to catch himself against a pillar however and generally prevented himself from making an embarrassing scene, to his relief.

Ben heaved a deep sigh and glanced at his watch- regardless of his best efforts, he was still nearly twenty minutes late.

He stood up straight and padded over the large window at the back of the lobby; it looked out over the main rink and served as the perfect method for him to check if at least his team hadn't started the bulk of the practise.

What he was met with however, while at least confirming his hopes to be true, also left him immediately confused.

Around nine people were out on the ice, each of them tall, slender, and moving at such speeds totally unachievable by someone in full hockey gear. They were ice-skaters, professionals no doubt, and they were moving about in pairs on the ice. The odd one out was stood by the edge of the rink, leaning on the barrier and having a heated conversation with a huge man that Ben did recognise- his own coach.

The other people he could see through the glass were the rest of his entire team, but none of them were dressed for practise, and none were out skating. Instead they were bundled up on the stands, all looking thoroughly unamused.

Ben frowned and started towards the double doors that led down to the spectator seats, rather than the locker room as he had been planning to.

As he opened the door, his face was immediately blasted by cold air from the ice, making the tip of his nose steadily change from pale skin, to aching red. He lumbered down the stairs, hoping to join his team mates unnoticed, but a few turned to see him as he approached, and shook their heads, clearly very unimpressed- at least the coach hadn't seen him.

"You have no idea how lucky you are" one said to him once he had taken a seat in the stands- it was Remi, the right defenseman, and about the only person on the team that he would call his actual friend,

Ben grimaced, "What's going on?"

"Figure skaters" another of his teammates grumbled- Erno the right winger, "Fucking puffs need the ice to practise apparently"

That made the ravenette all the more uncomfortable. There was somewhat of a 'Don't ask, don't tell' sensibility within the world of professional ice hockey, something which had always been a problem as far he was concerned,

He shook his head however and continued, "So what? We can't do anything? Didn't we have the ice booked?",

"Doesn't look that way"

One of the older members of the team then sighed and turned to regard the rest of them- it was Yupe, the left winger, "We don't book the ice, the team is based here so it's an unspoken thing that we get to practise when we want" he then paused and gave a less than enthralled look to Erno, who had of course, been so forthcoming about his particular distaste for the situation, "The _figure skaters_ however, _do_ book the ice. Because their team practise is seasonal and infrequent",

Ben licked his lips and looked out over the ice, "So we're waiting for now?",

"Yes" the senior-teammate nodded, "And for once, we're not waiting for you",

The ravenette blushed and decided to watch the skaters instead of drawing more attention to himself.

He hadn't started playing ice hockey with the intention of becoming a professional in the sport, but now he was there, he was hardly going to complain. It made sense, Ben was built for the sport, he was good on the ice once he grew into his tall stature, and it kept him busy and well-paid. It was also an excellent outlet for his _personal issue._

Watching the figure skaters before him now however, he was shocked by how different their skill set was,

Each one was as tall as a hockey player, but with half the mass, their legs and arms covered by highly toned muscles, but nothing like that of Ben or any of his team mates. They were strong, but compact, carrying only as much weight as they needed to control themselves and others on the ice. In comparison, their speed was insane too, some of them moved so swiftly, it was as though they were barely touching the ground, flying instead. To top it off, they were all but gymnasts too, as they bent and even contorted their bodies, as they glided on the flawless ice.

Ben had never watched the figure skating before, despite working in the same environment for nearly fifteen years, and now he was starting to truly believe that he had been missing out.

One couple at the back was particularly interesting to him.

At first he found it a little hard to differentiate the man from the woman, but their movements soon made it clear, as the redhead led the blonde on the ice, as he would in a dance of some kind.

The woman was of a larger stature, taller and more muscular than the redheaded man she skated with. Her hair was cut short, and was slicked out of her face at current, showing off her red cheeks and exhausted expression.

It wasn't her that Ben was interested in however.

From the moment he had seen the bright orange hair streak across the ice, he was intrigued.

Whoever he was, he was tall, slender, and incredibly graceful on the ice, his long limbs bending subtly to guide him into wide, but fast turns, covering huge amounts of space in only moments.

When he got close enough to be seen in his full glory, Ben became captivated by the sheer concentration on his face, and was only knocked out of the fixation when he led his partner in an impressive manoeuvre, in which they moved in synchronisation, both drifting about the ice on one leg each, backwards and holding hands, as they skated in a long curved line.

When they came to an eventual stop, they high-fived and nodded to one another, sharing a few words.

The redheaded man looked as low on energy as his partner, and his hands quickly found his narrow hips as he heaved out several long breathes.

The blonde broke away from him, and skated over to the barrier on the far right, collecting a water bottle from a bench on the other side,

 _He_ still wasn't finished however, as after only a few more seconds of rest, he turned and began to skate up the length of the rink, gaining speed drastically. His path began to curve as it had before, until the turn became so tight that he began to spin in an incredibly smooth pirouette. With one hand held high, and one long leg sweeping out, he slowed, came to a stop, and then made his way over at crawl to his partner, as though his last display hadn't been carried out to perfection, as it had. His nonchalance was chilling- no pun intended.

"Wow" Ben said softly, smiling,

"Ben?"

He quickly looked to who had addressed him and found that the entire team was staring at him, with his coach at the head of the congregation, an almost middle-aged man that they simply called 'coach'.

"Eh- yeah?" he asked, bringing his duffle bag up to rest on his lap, trying to seem attentive,

"Great, now that we have Solo's attention-" the gruff man said, folding his arms, "-the _figure skaters_ are finally finishing up on the main rink-" the way he said the words 'figure skaters' almost made Ben more uncomfortable than the way Erno talked about his distaste for _certain_ sexual preferences.

"-so you lot better get to the changing rooms, and be back out here on the ice in ten minutes"

With a general murmur of confirmation, all of the men stood from their seats, and began to shuffle down the narrow gaps between them to the stairs,

Ben hitched his duffle bag over his shoulder and prepared to follow them, quickly forgetting the figure skaters- the figure skater (singular) he had been watching so intently, and getting into the hockey frame of mind instead.

"Solo"

He stopped in his tracks again, and slowly turned to his coach, who had once again snapped his name,

The cold wasn't helping, but his cheeks began to tint red, "Yes?"

"Don't think I didn't notice you rolling up late" the man said,

He looked somewhat like a bulldog, but at moments like this, when his voice was low and threatening, the resemblance was uncanny,

"Sorry coach" Ben replied, gulping softly,

"I'm not looking for apologies" he snapped, "I'm looking for committed team members who are brutal in their craft, I'm getting half of that from you right now",

"I am committed! I swear!" the ravenette said quickly, "I just- I just need to get an earlier train, that's all it is, I promise. I will be on time",

The coach looked unconvinced, but after a long moment he nodded, "Alright then-" he then looked to the ice where the figure skaters were just starting to leave, still moving in pairs, and he grimaced, "Get changed, I'm sick of the sight of you"

By the time Ben got to the changing rooms the rest of the team were almost entirely undressed, but determined to not be the last out on the ice, he stripped in seconds flat and pulled on his gear as quickly as he could. He then grabbed his stick and helmet, and trod as quickly as he could on his skates out to the rink.

The coach was waiting at the gap in the barrier between the ice and the stands, looking mildly impressed that Ben had made it out so quickly, but otherwise appearing as stoic as ever.

To his own surprise, Ben wasn't all that interested in his coach however, as for a fleeting second, just as he slid onto the ice, he saw the retreating flash of red hair passing through the doorway to the public locker rooms.

He was reminded all at once of the graceful dance of the figure skaters- the figure skater, and a warm smile found his lips.

0o0o0

Practise had not gone all that well.

Ben was distracted, there was no other way of putting it, he just couldn't concentrate on the mock-game at hand.

He was of course pulled out of his thoughts when Erno slammed into his side, and quickly initiated a fight with the throwing off of his gloves. Even then however, Ben's brain was so far away, that he hardly noticed that he _wasn't_ pulling the punches that were colliding with Erno's face, and he had to be hauled off of him by two other team members.

Erno was put aside to be looked at by a medic, and Ben, without a scratch on him, was put in the timeout box for half an hour.

While obviously, 'secretly' impressed by his aggression, the coach had really chewed him out for it, and the rest of the team proceeded to shoot him dirty looks for the rest of the day, including of course, Erno. Even if his swollen face made it hard to tell if the looks he was giving the ravenette could be considered 'dirty'.

Ben would hardly say that he was to blame, he'd been caught off guard, and it was his instinct to react like that to a fight. It was anyone's wasn't it?

 _ **No**_.

That was how he used to think, and he quickly scolded himself not only for getting into the fight, but for thinking that the state of Erno wasn't entirely his fault.

He didn't do that anymore, he took responsibility for his aggression, that was healthy, and that was how you worked at overcoming it.

Ben sighed, and pulled his bag over his shoulder again.

Thinking about being angry made him angrier, and sad.

He slipped past the last of his fellow players who were still getting changed, and left the locker room, planning on going straight home and working out the last of his frustrations on his punching bag,

As he had hours earlier however, he came to a grinding halt in the lobby.

The figure skater was stood waiting beside the pillar that Ben himself had almost rebounded off earlier, his eyes focused on the phone in his hands.

His hair was washed and combed into an incredibly smart style, he was clean shaven, and his pale skin was free of blemishes of any kind. For someone who looked so put together from the neck up, Ben was surprised to see him wearing gym gear of any sort, yet here he was, dressed in a hoodie and a pair of athletics leggings.

After perhaps thirty seconds had passed, the ravenette realised that he was staring at his legs, which were so perfectly contained by the tight leggings.

He let out a long breath and briefly thought how thankful he was that the redhead hadn't noticed him, well- hadn't noticed him, _noticing him_.

He had to say something though, Ben couldn't let this day be a total failure.

With a long breath to steady himself, the ravenette made his way across the lobby to the other man, licking his painfully dry lips as he went,

"Hi" he said with a gentle nod, hoping that his expression was welcoming, and not as awkward or uncomfortable as he was really feeling.

The figure skater blinked and looked up from his phone screen, his blue eyes immediately illuminated by the light it was throwing off, "Hello" he said with a nod, putting away the device,

Ben couldn't help but notice that the light in his eyes did not fade with the loss of his phone- and so he couldn't help but notice that that must have meant that his eyes really were just that bright,

"I'm Ben" he said, offering his one free hand,

"Hux" the other man responded, taking it and shaking it firmly.

The ravenette couldn't help but let his smile widen, "Hux" he said with a nod, pulling away his hand, "I just wanted to say that- that you look beautiful on the ice" as each proceeding word left his mouth, his smile waned and was replaced by an expression of embarrassment, as a hot blush tinted his cheeks,

"Thank you" Hux said with a nod, "I suppose, when you're not beating people up, you look quite impressive too"

Ben blinked, "When did you see-?"

"I saw you on the ice a little, from up here" the redhead replied,

"Well- that was a one-time thing, he just caught me off guard" he answered quickly, sure his flush was becoming hotter and darker by the second,

"Hmm" the redhead hummed, raising his eyebrows a little.

Ben could feel a lump developing in his throat, and he coughed awkwardly, trying to dislodge it "Listen, I was just wondering- maybe you'd like to- ehh" he rose a hand to scratch the back of his neck, "Do you want to come and have dinner with me maybe?"

There was a long stretch of silence in which Hux only blinked at him, and the longer it went on, the more Ben's embarrassment began to morph into anger, growing completely out of his control upsettingly quickly,

"Christ!" he snapped, poorly moderating the volume at which he was speaking, "You don't have to be like that, you know what- forget I said anything" he growled, turning towards the exit of the rink, and aiming to make as quick an escape as he could before he embarrassed himself any further, or got any angrier for that matter.

"No, no. I'd like to" Hux said suddenly, holding out a hand to stop him,

Ben froze and blinked in disbelief, quite sure he'd misheard him, "Excuse me?"

"We can go tonight if you like?" the redhead asked, "We could meet outside at eight? Find somewhere to eat?"

Now all the more aware of his glowing blush, the ravenette nodded, his jaw a little slack, "S-sure".


	2. Chapter 2

The sky was looking decidedly grey.

Ben winced at the clouds and shrunk his chin further into the collar of his coat, his hands settling deeper into his pockets. He was starting to see it as a bit of a bad omen.

Not that he'd been on all that many dates recently, but as far as he could remember, most good ones usually played out alongside pleasant weather.

The ravenette sighed and watched as his breath streamed out of his mouth, hanging visibly in the air,

It probably didn't help that he had arrived over twenty minutes early, but he was having more and more doubts about this date by the second, the longer he thought about it, the worse it got.

The sight of Hux's smile made all of his apprehensions do a one-eighty spin however.

The redhead was dashing across the street towards him, in a similar stance of receded head and fists bundled into pockets,

Ben smiled and regarded him, something akin to elation starting to wipe out all the other thoughts and feelings that had been dwelling on him.

"Snap" Hux said with a smirk when he finally came to a stop before the other man,

The ravenette raised a confused brow before he realised what he was talking about- they were both wearing dark grey peacoats, almost identical save for the size.

 _Just one of the inevitabilities of dating within your gender_ , he supposed.

Ben blushed and scratched nervously at the back of his head, "Yeah" he nodded, "So, any idea where you want to go?" he then asked, managing an anxious smile,

"I've got a good idea" Hux replied with a nod, "Come on"

0o0o0

Ben certainly had not predicted that Hux would have such expensive taste, not that he minded, it was just unexpected. In retrospect, he _should_ really have anticipated it, the redhead was so well put together after all.

"I hope this is alright" Hux said as they sat at the small, circular table, straightening his pale grey waistcoat as he went,

Ben considered the dim lighting, the flickering candles on each table, and the five-figure champagne on the top shelf behind the bar,

The entire place screamed romance.

"Yeah, this is great" he said with a smile,

"Good" the other man nodded, wearing a similar expression.

They looked over the drinks menu in relative silence, and Ben briefly started to worry again until Hux regarded him once more, after their order had been taken- a beer and a glass of white wine.

"How long have you been skating for?"

The ravenette thought about the question for a moment, calculating the answer quickly and being a little stunned by the result himself, "I started when I was fifteen, so nearly half my life I guess", a seductively curved glassful of beer was then placed on the table in front of him, "How about you?" he asked, taking it up.

"Thank you" Hux nodded to the waiter, having tasted his wine and given the go ahead to receive a full glass of it, he then smirked and picked up his own drink, "I'm a little older than you" he said before sipping at the pale liquid, "I've been skating for about eighteen years"

Ben was surprised by the answer. He knew most people started skating at far younger ages than he did, but he was sure Hux couldn't be that much older than him, "How old are you?"

The redhead laughed and shrugged, "I'll be thirty-four in autumn",

The other man smiled in response, "My birthday's in fall too"

0o0o0

"My parents thought that hockey would help with my aggression problems" Ben admitted about ten minutes into their entrees,

He'd had less to drink that he thought, so could only assume that he'd told Hux that truth because he had actually wanted to.

The man simply shrugged in response, putting down his wine, "Does it help?" he asked,

The ravenette couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised- he'd much rather everyone was so casual about his issues, that made them easier to talk about.

"Yeah actually" he nodded, he then blushed as he recalled the events from earlier in the day however, "I only have minor slip ups now",

"Ahh" Hux nodded, "So that's what happened on the ice today?"

Ben winced, "Yeah, I just lost concentration for a second and Erno caught me off guard",

"I'd hardly say that you were to blame then",

The man smiled softly, "How about you? Did your parents make you get skating lessons as a kid or something?",

In Ben's experience, most ice skaters took on the sport from such a young age because their wealthy parents encouraged it,

"Oh no, quite the opposite" he said shaking his head, "My father was completely furious when he found out that I had really been going to the ice rink every day after school. He thought I was tutoring younger students in maths" he said, placing his knife and fork together over his empty plate, signalling that he was done.

Ben raised an eyebrow and his smile quickly became a frown, "What happened?" he asked, his tone lowering a little,

"My coach took me in" Hux replied with a shrug,

The ravenette's eyes bulged in their sockets, and he went to ask one of the many follow-up questions he had, but the waiter cut him off before he could begin, collecting their empty plates.

Once the man had gone, he opened his mouth to speak again, "So your dad kicked you out?"

The redhead shrugged again, "And disinherited me too, he owns a large multinational company you see, and I was meant to take it on. It was probably for the best though, if he hadn't found out about the skating, he likely would've thrown me into the street at nineteen when I came out"

The tone the man used told Ben that he didn't want, or indeed _need_ sympathy. He couldn't help but feel a little disheartened by the information however,

"And I thought my relationship with my dad was bad" he added quietly.

"So it's strained between the two of you as well?" Hux asked, quickly changing the topic, "Is it also because you're gay?"

"No, no it's not that. My parents are fine with that" the ravenette said dismissively- although he immediately felt guilty in doing so, part of him thought it might have sounded like he was boasting. His parents had never had any problem with his sexuality, at least for the most part. His mother had been _very_ supportive. His father had been mostly silent on the matter, but a least he wasn't ignorant to it, or judgmental, "We're just a family of confrontational people I guess" he said quickly, continuing, "Even my uncle had monumental fights with my granddad back in the day, so of course, my mom just had to marry the guy who would cause the most arguments, it's our nature"

Hux laughed softly and Ben immediately felt reassured again,

"Are your parents still together?"

He nodded, "Yeah, somehow"

The waiter returned in that moment, and he immediately clamped his mouth shut- it was an old habit from family dinners out when he was a child and a teen. One wrong word could have consequences, even end up in the newspapers,

Their main courses were placed down in front of them, and once he had refreshed his mouth with a glug of beer, Ben proceeded to explain, "They argue constantly. It doesn't help that my grandad never approved, he said that dad was bad for mom's public image or something"

Hux quirked his brow, swallowing the piece of smoked duck he had placed in his mouth, "Her public image?"

The ravenette shrugged, taking up some crab meat with his spoon, "She's a state senator"

"Ahh" he nodded, "And him? What does your father do?"

He winced as he tried to think of an answer to that question, "Well, when my parents met, I think he just spent most of his time in the back of his van with my uncle Chewie getting high" he replied.

The redhead laughed and signalled for him to go on, sipping at his drink again,

"Now he doesn't work, they've got the money. I'm not sure what he did in between though" he concluded.

Conversation about his family wasn't done with though, apparently,

"And your grandfather and your uncle? Are they still in the image?" Hux asked

The ravenette swallowed a mouthful of food, "Grandad died a while back, but my uncle's still around... We don't get along though" he admitted, grimacing at the thought of the last interaction he had had with the man,

"You and your uncle?" Hux said, his brow furrowing,

The ravenette shrugged, staring down at his food as he thoughtfully chewed and swallowed his latest bite, "Yeah" he said with a nod "Before the ice hockey, my mom thought maybe I could practise with my uncle to work out some anger. He's a martial arts instructor" he paused, an even deeper wince setting into his face, "It didn't go to plan", he then shook his head, "What about you? You have no communication with your parents at all?" he asked, speaking long before he realised that he was turning the conversation back to something Hux had clearly been trying to avoid earlier.

"No" he replied. Again, his tone was hard to read, he could've easily have been annoyed by the question, but instead he came off as nothing more than neutral,

Ben frowned, "Not even your mom? Where did she stand on the skating?"

"My _stepmother_ had nothing to say, as usual"

"Stepmom?"

The redhead nodded and shrugged, "My mother died when I was very young"

The other man blinked, and guilt settled in his stomach once more, "Oh, I'm sorry"

Hux shook his head, "I didn't know her, I hardly remember her. Even growing up my father didn't talk about her. They were never married" the way he continued to eat from his plate as he spoke told the ravenette that he either _honestly_ did not feel too disheartened by the fact that he was motherless, or that he was very good at hiding it. Either way, he was avoiding eye contact.

"Do you know what she did?" Ben asked softly,

The man paused and a gentle smile upturned his lips, "She was a dancer I think, ballet", he then shook his head however, "But I think she worked as a cook at the time she fell pregnant with me",

"That must be where you get your grace from"

The redhead smiled softly, "Perhaps"

0o0o0

The rest of their dinner proceeded well into the evening, accompanied by vivid conversation, most of which was _not_ about their respective families, and when they finally left the restaurant and started the walk to Hux's apartment, the sky was dark, but the rain had all dried up.

Ben's face felt hot with a blush as his eyes shifted sideways to glance at the other man,

They had both been quiet for some time, simply enjoying one another's company, but the ravenette was desperate to ask him a question,

"What is it?" Hux asked after catching him staring for perhaps the tenth time in a minute.

His breath caught in his throat briefly and his eyes widened, "Oh, it's nothing, I just-" he paused, raising a hand to scratch the back of his head, "I've got a match in two days, would you maybe come to it?"

The redhead smiled softly, "Is that all you wanted to ask?",

Ben felt his face glowing red, but he remained quiet,

"Of course" Hux then nodded, licking his lips, "As long as you come to my show, it's at the end of the week"

Having never been invited to anything as far back as he could remember, the other man found himself incredibly flattered by the request and he nodded vigorously.

The smaller of the two smiled back and they continued the walk in silence, only pausing when they came to a large, wrought iron gate,

"It's quicker to go through the park" Hux explained, shrugging, "And nicer too" he added,

"Okay" the ravenette replied, following him.

The park was darker than the sidewalk they had been traversing, but the path was lit by lines of fairy lights, strung between lampposts that also glowed dimly. The entire scene was yet another romantic element to the evening that Ben was glad of,

As far as he was concerned, the date had gone perfectly.

"You'll be okay getting home after this won't you?" the redhead asked after a moment, just as they were crossing a small footbridge over a tiny stream,

"I'll get a cab" he replied, nodding,

"Sorry to take you out of your way"

"No, no, it's alright" Ben assured him, "I wanted to walk you home"; to him, that was an important part of the evening, not that he would admit that. The whole thing was already so childishly sweet.

"Well thank you" he replied, nodding, the man then lifted his eyes and pointed across the thin woodland park, "That's me" he said softly,

His hand was directed up towards an apartment building, not too tall, but very wide. Each individual apartment seemed to be reasonably sized, even from the outside, and balconies jutted out from them on all sides,

It looked like an exceptionally nice place to live.

"You don't still live with your coach, do you?" Ben asked with an amused smile, just as they were getting to the gate out of the park,

The redhead laughed softly and shook his head, "No, I live with my partner"

The other man almost stopped on the spot. It couldn't be true, Hux had been with him all night, on a _date_. He couldn't have been in a relationship, unless he had misunderstood the invitation of dinner, or worse yet, had been using Ben for something,

He could've very easily have gotten angry at the idea of that, but he didn't. He was too devastated for even his anger flare, "... Oh" he said softy.

Hux stopped on the sidewalk just outside of the gate and regarded him, catching sight of his sullen expression and downcast eyes, "Phasma, my _skating_ partner" he added,

Now the ravenette just felt embarrassed, "Oh" he repeated, blushing once more.

"You probably saw her out on the ice today" he went on, his hands leaving his pockets, "I've known her a long time, she's a very close friend. I live here with her and her boyfriend",

"I see" Ben nodded, still fairly mortified that he had mistaken the other man's words to mean that he was seeing someone, seeing someone _other_ than him.

"I had a wonderful night Ben" Hux said, moving toward the man in question,

He took hold of one cuff of the ravenette's coat, and now holding his attention, he craned his head up to press a small kiss to his lips,

He blinked at the contact and stooped down a little, making the kiss easier to hold.

It had been a while since he had been kissed at all, let alone been in a relationship, but he was fairly sure that it was a good sign when the redhead moved his hands up into his hair and prolonged the connection, rather than pulling away.

Just when Ben anxiously considered the terrifying prospect of introducing tongues into the equation, they instead separated,

Hux smiled at him, his own face starting to bloom with a roseate tint, "We'll do it again soon" he said, placing his hands back into his pockets, "If you want to"

"Definitely" the ravenette said eagerly, "Definitely".


	3. Chapter 3

Ben was feeling nervous, not so much about the match, more because of who would be attending it.

He hadn't seen Hux since their date two days earlier, but they had been talking over text almost constantly; they were like teenagers feeing everything hard and fast, as if for the first time, and personally Ben was loving every second of it,

Apart from the fact that he was nervous to see him again, that was a less pleasant feeling.

Ben huffed and sat up from the bench-press. Resting his elbows on his knees, he pulled his hands across his sweaty face, feeling his burning hot cheeks against his palms,

"Everything alright Solo?"

The ravenette sniffed and looked up, finding his team mate Remi standing over him wearing a massive smile.

Remi was the good sort, charming and funny if not a little hot-headed; he wasn't quite as bad as Ben in that regard, he'd just had a rebellious childhood in which he'd been picked up by the police more than once, it was mostly for graffiti though. He was also fairly gorgeous and had the most brilliantly white teeth that Ben had ever seen,

Not that any of that mattered particularly, he absolutely was not the man's type.

"Yeah, I'm good" he said with another deep breath,

Remi tugged the small towel from around his neck and tossed to the other man, "You sure? You seem kind of, I dunno, distracted?"

Ben dabbed the towel over his neck and finally stood from the bench, "I'm just nervous about tonight I guess",

"Seriously?" the other man asked, falling in step with him as they started towards the locker room, "We're only playing the Rogues, not really a match to worry about, I think. If you want to worry about a game, think about playing the New Republic at the end of next month",

"No, no it's not the match" the ravenette said shaking his head,

"Then what is it?" Remi replied, looking utterly dumbfounded by the very suggestion that something else could be on the other man's mind.

Ben smiled softly, letting out a gentle chuckle, "I've kind of got someone special coming to the game tonight",

"A scout?"

"No, not a scout" he laughed, "A guy"

Remi stepped ahead quickly and turned to stand in Ben's path, one hand held up to stop him in place, "You're seeing someone?", his tone was serious now, all of his usual humour having defused,

"Yeah?"

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" he snapped, reaching out suddenly to thwack Ben's arm with a loose fist,

He gave the other man a stunned look, holding the red mark on his forearm as it developed, "It's fresh! It's literally only been a couple of days",

"And he's already coming to one of your games?"

"I mean yeah, I want him to be there, I like him" the smile curving up his lips as he said that was entirely involuntary.

Remi's own smile crept back onto his face too, "How much? What are we talking about here?"

"What do you mean?" he sighed, rolling his eyes and pushing past his friend,

" _I mean_ , was it like a one-night stand that ended particularly well or what?" he laughed, hopping to catch up with him again,

"No!" Ben yelped, leaning on the locker room door and letting is open against his weight, "We haven't slept together!"

"Well come on! You got to tell me something then" Remi insisted, following him in, "What's his name, what does he do? Etc. etc."

The ravenette sighed and came to sit on the bench in front of his hired locker, "His name's Hux"

"Hux?" the other man asked, coming down to sit beside him, "Why's that familiar?",

He grimaced, he didn't think this would come up so soon, "He's a figure skater" he replied, glancing over to gauge his friend's reaction.

Remi nodded, recognition dawning on him, "Of course he is!" he said with a snort,

Ben quirked his brow at the man, "Why do you say it like that?"

He gave him a bemused sort of look and suppressed the need to laugh again, "Come on Solo you know why. A figure skater is so obviously your type, even just physically" he said with a shrug.

The ravenette was surprised, not only had he never particularly thought of himself having a specific type, he had never considered the idea that someone else might have riddled it out for him, "You think?",

Remi stood and unlocked his locker, "Sure, tall and crazy skinny? That's totally your thing" he commented, now beginning to tug off his vest,

"So I could never be with another hockey player? That's what you're saying?" he chuckled, toeing off his sneakers,

"Yeah, that's probably true",

Ben shook his head, "Damn, guess that means that we'll never work out" he teased,

"You could never have me, you know that" the man said, shaking his head and shucking off his shorts,

"Yeah, you're not pretty enough for me" he said, smirking.

Remi paused on the spot and shot an offended look over his shoulder, his hands held preciously over his heart, "I'm a fucking catch and I'm offended that you would dare insult my beautiful face",

"I guess you are unreasonably attractive… but your ass is way too fat for me"

His friend considered the comment for a long moment, before finally nodding, "I'll take it" he then slipped off his underwear before wrapping a clean towel around his waist, "It's not just a stature thing you know, you matching up with this figure skater"

"Hmm?" Ben asked, pulling off his unpleasantly sweaty athleisure shirt.

"You're from an argumentative family, right?" he replied, leaning one bare shoulder against the cold metal of the lockers, "And you always say that your mom married the guy who'd cause the most trouble for your granddad?"

The ravenette gave him a surprised look, partially surprised that he had mentioned that to Remi in the first place, and equally as shocked that he remembered, "Yeah? But where's this going?"

"You're a hockey player, you don't think a figure skater is going to cause problems in your life?" the other man folded his arms and shot him an amused expression, "You don't think a figure skater is going to drive you crazy?"

Ben cocked his head and winced, "Yeah, you're probably right"

0o0o0

A few hours later, after showering and briefly returning home for his equipment, Ben made his way to the ice rink.

Unlike the days when he had training (especially in the morning), the man was never late to work when there was a game on, in fact more often than not he was early, and as such he was all but ready to go when the rest of his team mates were still getting undressed.

Thinking it best to stay out of the way in the crowded changing room, particularly while pre-game tensions were high, Ben slipped out into the corridor the first chance he got.

The ravenette was squatting against the wall opposite the changing room now, deeply regretting not bringing his phone with him. He'd left it in his locker along with his street clothes as he usually would, but usually he wouldn't also have someone to talk to need it.

He could hear the bustle in the room even with the door closed, and the idea of trying to get back in seemed more painful and anxiety inducing by the second, regardless, he _really_ wanted to talk to Hux.

With a sigh, the man finally stood, deciding to hedge his bets,

As he went to take the step to the door however, he became aware of the fact that he was not actually alone in the corridor.

He turned, his eyes widening at the sight he was met with, "Hux?"

The redhead was indeed standing before him and he looked as prim and as handsome as ever; once again though, his clothing didn't quite match his persona. He was wearing a pair of delightfully fitting, dark skinny jeans and what appeared to be a pale grey sweater- fairly regular items from his wardrobe. Over the top of both however, and indeed overshadowing them, hung a bright red hockey jersey.

The word 'Acolytes' was printed in gold across its chest, but the garment was made for someone far broader than the redhead and as such two letters at either end of the word sagged below the height of his armpits,

"You're wearing a jersey" Ben said softly, a bright smile curling up his lips as he approached him,

The other man briefly looked down, almost as though he'd forgotten what he was wearing, "Oh, yes. I thought I'd better represent" his cheeks began to tint pink as he spoke.

The ravenette came to a stop a comfortable few feet away from Hux and he once more looked him over, a huge beam on his face.

The jersey certainly wasn't new, it was battered and the hems on the arms were loose and frayed. The colour had also dimmed from washing and the letters had foxing too, pealing from the fabric in places.

What really caught Ben's eye however, was the large number 7 printed on the shoulder,

"You're wearing _my_ jersey" he said quietly, pointing at it,

The man had played as number 7 on the Acolytes team for over three years now, so he couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed it straight away, perhaps the other man was just too distracting.

The blush on Hux's face deepened a little, "Well I do have access to the locker room, I just went in and _borrowed_ it" he replied, talking softly until a wince twisted his expression, "It was your only clean one. Sorry"

Ben shrugged, "It's fine, I never wear a clean jersey for a match"

The redhead shook his head and laughed, "Well on that disgusting note, I'm going to get a seat", with that he reached forward and pressed a gentle kiss to the other man's cheek, his lips lingering against his skin for just a moment longer than usual.

Distracted by the contact, the hockey player had barely noticed that he had pulled away until they were already once more a few steps apart, "Wait-" he began, taking back use of the his voice, "-If we win, will you come for celebratory drinks with the team?"

Hux turned slowly, sending him a smile, "Okay-" he said, nodding, "-or I'll take you somewhere expensive for a commiserations dinner, just in case you don't"

Ben laughed, "That sounds like a good deal"

0o0o0

After the first twenty minutes of the match, the Acolytes were in an early lead, but after the second round of play time, the Rogues had matched them in goals. Then, in the final twenty minutes, not a single soul went on to score.

Feeling a little disheartened by the stalemate result, Ben changed quickly once the game was done and made his way out into the foyer to find Hux.

The redhead greeted him with a bright smile, a hug, a kiss on the cheek and a flurry of compliments for his technique on the ice,

"You really think I was that good?" he asked, hitching his bag up on his shoulder,

Hux nodded, "I don't know an awful lot about hockey, but I know the ice, your form was excellent",

The other man blushed and reached out to take his hand, "Well thanks" he said with a nod.

"What do you want to do now then? We didn't exactly make plans for this situation"

"I don't know" Ben said shrugging, casting his eyes over his shoulder to where his team mates were now filing out into the foyer as well,

Almost immediately he made eye contact with Remi of course, and the young man approached before he could say anything more to Hux,

"Coming to the bar? Most of us are in the mood to drink after that result" he said, flashing his teeth in a bright albeit rather exhausted smile.

The ravenette looked down to the man beside him, "Err- what do you want to do?"

"I could go for a drink or two" he replied,

"Okay" Ben said with a nod, now looking between Hux and Remi, "Oh! Er- Remi this is Hux"

"Hi" the hockey player said, offering his hand to the other man,

"Hello" the redhead replied, briefly letting go of Ben to accept the greeting, "Hope you don't mind me coming along? Me _and_ some friends?" he added, gesturing across the foyer.

Ben blinked and followed his hand, finding that they were being watched by a couple leaning against the far wall,

 _She_ he recognised as Phasma, Hux's _skating_ partner- she looked far more intimidating up close than he expected. Her crystal blonde hair was styled in short waves out of her face and off of her strong brow, while her expression was cool and steely. Beside her stood a man that Ben did not know however. He wasn't as tall than Phasma, but he was certainly more muscular; he also expressed the severe impression of being particularly threatening, with his wild red hair and unruly beard.

"Sure, the more the merrier" Remi replied, nodding,

He then gave Ben a funny expression- the ravenette wasn't sure whether it was in amusement or teasing, either way he chose to ignore it.

The bar, 'The First Order', didn't take long to arrive to by foot, although the sheer quantity of people walking there together made it difficult to talk and as such Ben and Hux remained quiet most of the way there.

Walking in a crowd wasn't all bad though, Ben was glad of it simply because it meant he could go on holding Hux's hand unseen.

Once they made it to the bar, most of the team split off into smaller groups, making it much easier to move around and indeed converse,

Ben, Remi, Hux and his friends found a booth quickly, and after a few moments taken to settle into their seats, all but two of them were on the feet again, now making their way over to the counter to collect the first round.

"So who's the scary looking guy with Phasma?" Ben asked, sidling a little closer to Hux,

"It's her on and off boyfriend, Kristofer" he replied, resting his head on his palm.

At the bar, Remi was now locked in conversation with the man in question, and Ben watched as Kristopher stared back at his team mate with wide, bright eyes, "On and off?"

Hux laughed softly and nodded, "They argue _a lot_. But the makeup sex must be fantastic, because I can hear it through the walls"

The ravenette grimaced but then laughed in return, having never expected the redhead to say something like that.

At that moment however, as if he had heard him, Kristofer turned and stared directly at Ben, a massive, slightly disturbing smile up turning his lips. The man felt himself give an involuntary shiver under his gaze, "He seems to be staring at me quite a lot"

Hux nodded, "I expect so" he commented, speaking far too casually for the other man's liking, "He's a huge fan of yours"

His brows shot up on his forehead, "He is?"

"He loves ice hockey, and thinks you're incredible"

Ben released an awkward laugh and shifted even closer towards the redhead, "That's kinda weird, I never really think of myself having fans"

"Really?" Hux asked, beginning to take notice of how close to him the man was now sitting, "You're such a fine player, I would've imagined that you get stopped in the streets" he said, smiling warmly. He then placed his hand a top the ravenette's, interlacing their fingers,

The other looked down to their joined hands and felt his cheeks begin to warm again, "Not exactly" he said with a laugh, "Still waiting for a big break, maybe a transfer to a bigger team"

"You're good enough, it'll come" he replied, reaching across to kiss his face for the third time that night.

Ben smiled at the contact and found himself staring into the man's eyes as he slowly pulled away, "Thank you for coming tonight, it meant a lot" he whispered, closing the gap once more, this time to join their lips.

The kiss was warm and sweet, but very short lived. The ravenette would of course preferred to have lingered, but given the current surrounding and company, he wasn't feeling at his most confident to do so,

Hux squeezed his hand reassuringly as they settled back into their seats once more, now sitting at a more casual distance from one another.

After perhaps thirty seconds of comfortable silence, Remi, Phasma and Kristofer retuned to the table with the drinks, and they sat once more, striking up conversation and making more in-depth introductions.

Two hours later, once a very drunken Remi had been picked up by his girlfriend Kiza, Ben, Hux, Phasma and Kristofer began the short walk back to the apartment, all loosened by more than a few helpings of beer and spirits.

Phasma and Kristofer led the way, while Ben and Hux hung back a little, their hands still joined tightly as they walked,

"I'm really looking forward to your show" Ben said dreamily, his eyes tracking the few constellations he recognised across the dark sky,

"I'm excited for you to be there" the redhead replied, "Although it's nothing like hockey, so I hope you enjoy it"

The other man's head swivelled towards him and he couldn't help but frown, "Of course I will! I get to watch you doing something you love"

Hux smiled and nudged him with his shoulder playfully, a little at a loss for words,

The ravenette went back to smiling too, fairly proud that he had rendered the other speechless.

Ahead, the other couple had made it to the apartment building; while Phasma stood holding the door open, Kristofer was on her side, ticking her neck with his beard and dropping kisses along her jaw,

"Hurry up you two!" the blonde called, barely able to keep her boyfriend's wandering hands at bay.

"We're coming" Hux replied with a nod, and tugging Ben along with him he started at a gentle jog up the sidewalk and then up the concrete stairs,

Before the ravenette thought on what he was doing, he had been pulled into the warm foyer of the building, and soon they were all in cramped elevator together, watching the floors pass them by.

The short journey upwards was decidedly awkward, as Kristofer couldn't keep his hands to himself; Ben and Hux stayed quiet, sharing significant albeit awkward looks until the door opened on the correct floor. The four exited the metal box and made their way down the corridor to the apartment,

Hux went ahead to open the door for them and Ben stayed close behind, not wanting to somehow accidentally get

caught up in Phasma and Kristofer's rough and tumble,

"Goodnight" the blonde yelped, barging past the two men in the doorway with her boyfriend close behind,

Before they could respond, the couple were out of sight, concealed behind a slammed bedroom door,

Ben blinked and took another step into the apartment, looking over the dark space; the bulk of the place seemed to be taken up by a huge sitting room, complete with two long black leather sofas and fairly wide screen TV against one wall. An attached kitchen was pushed off in one corner, and then of course there were two bedroom doors as well as a bathroom. There were a lot of windows dotted about as well, but all were covered by thick grey curtains which blocked out most of the lights from the streets outside, as such it was hard to see much of anything else; Ben could tell that it was a very nice apartment though.

"Come on" Hux then said, taking the ravenette's hand as he passed him, and pulling him further in,

Ben stumbled at first with the sudden movement but quickly found his footing as they made their way to the other bedroom,

The redhead opened the door and guided him in, side stepping so that there was enough space for the two of them to enter.

Compared the supposed size of the other rooms in the apartment, Hux's room definitely seemed to be the smallest; while his bed was a comfortable looking double, the floor space around it was very minimal. It was difficult therefore to find anywhere to wait around, and fairly naturally (especially with the social lubricant of alcohol in his veins) Ben came to sit on the bed, watching as Hux closed the bedroom behind him.

The redhead turned slowly and regarded the other man, is hands folded behind his back,

"Am I staying here tonight then?" the hockey player asked; he knew the question sounded fairly ridiculous, but although he wasn't exactly drunk, he had had enough to drink as to not feel the need to doublecheck every word that passed through his lips.

"It's late, and you've been drinking, it's probably for the best" Hux said with a nod, he then bit his lip however and his eyes fell to the floor, "Although, we'll just be _sharing_ the bed"

Ben blinked again and quickly shook his head, "That's fine, that's fine! In fact I'll sleep on the couch if you want, I really don't mind"

It honestly hadn't occurred to the man for a second that that they would be doing anything more than sleeping, but even at the man's vague suggestion the ravenette felt a cold sweat spring up at the top of his neck.

"No, you can sleep here, I insist"

"Okay, well-" he licked his lips and finally looked away from the other man, starting to feel his blush and nervousness catching up with him, "-have you got something I can wear?"

Wordlessly, Hux moved to the wardrobe set into the wall and after a few seconds of rummaging he retrieved a folded pair of cloth pants,

"Try these" he suggested, handing them over, "I'll just get changed" he added, going to the head of the bed where his pyjamas were already lain out,

Ben had undressed and changed amongst his teammates and even strangers at the gym time and time again, but now he felt an unfamiliar worry as he began to strip off. He was overtly conscious of every button on his shirt he unfastened, and the sound the zip of his jeans made almost caused him to shudder,

Soon enough he was shirtless and changed into the cloth trousers however. The man was surprised to find that they fit him so well, and without thinking he turned to tell Hux as much,

The redhead was almost ready for bed too, although not entirely; he was now wearing a pair of baggy boxers and an open bed shirt which he hadn't finished buttoning,

In the dim light of the bedroom his pale, lightly toned chest looked flawless, and Ben reacted with an involuntary and uncomfortable dry swallow.

Waiting until each button was fastened on Hux's shirt, Ben only spoke once the other began to pull back the covers on the bed, preparing to slip inside, "These fit pretty well" he said quietly, stepping over to the other side of the bed,

The redhead looked up at him and shrugged softly, "I think they might be Kristofer's, or maybe even Phasma's, we end up sharing clothes here all the time"

Silently hoping that the pants didn't belong Kristofer, the ravenette began to fold back the covers of the bed too, gently slipping in seconds after the figure skater had done the same. There was a decent amount of awkward shuffling around for a few minutes before both finally settled, their eyes trained resolutely on the ceiling,

"I had a good day today" Hux said softly, resting his hands on his stomach atop the covers,

"I'm really glad" Ben replied; really he felt like that was an understatement though, truly he was overjoyed.

The silence that followed soon made him uncomfortable however, and quickly he was fighting the need to shift on the mattress again, on the off chance a new position might put him more at ease. It felt as though he were floating an inch above the sheets and that one sudden movement might bring him crashing down, disturbing Hux who for all he knew was moments from sleep himself,

"Are you okay?" he asked after a few more minutes had passed,

The ravenette winced, _so he wasn't asleep yet_ , "Err yeah, I just- are you sure you don't want me to sleep on the couch or something?" he repeated, mortified by how inept that probably made him sound.

At first the other didn't reply, and Ben worried suddenly that he had somehow offended the other man with the insistent suggestion,

After a few more seconds however, Hux sighed and turned on the mattress, coming instead to lay on his side, now facing the other man, "I'm okay like this if you are" he replied, shifting forward so that his head came down on the hockey player's shoulder, quickly accompanied by his arm which he stretched across the man's chest.

Ben released a breath that he wasn't aware he was holding, and his shoulders comfortably sank back into the mattress. He was no longer floating, the redhead was anchoring him down, and he finally realised how comfortable the bed was,

"Yeah" he said quietly, still looking at the ceiling, "Yeah, this is good"


End file.
